I have been told this my whole life, how our silly little actions didn't mean anything because they were too small or fringe or whatever.

The difference is I can look back across the decades and see a lot of people who I have helped, and who have helped me in turn, things have been directly made better as a result (well, at least some of the time). Meanwhile, their "more realistic" approach centred on voting has seen periods of glacial progress and rapid retreat, leaving them further back than ever before in my lifetime.